Full text of Binyamin Netanyahu's Bar Ilan speech

Peace has always been our people's most ardent desire. Our prophets gave the world the vision of peace, we greet one another with wishes of peace, and our prayers conclude with the word peace.

We are gathered this evening in an institution named for two pioneers of peace, Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat, and we share in their vision.

Two and half months ago, I took the oath of office as the Prime Minister of Israel. I pledged to establish a national unity government - and I did. I believed and I still believe that unity was essential for us now more than ever as we face three immense challenges - the Iranian threat, the economic crisis, and the advancement of peace.

The Iranian threat looms large before us, as was further demonstrated yesterday. The greatest danger confronting Israel, the Middle East, the entire world and human race, is the nexus between radical Islam and nuclear weapons. I discussed this issue with President Obama during my recent visit to Washington, and I will raise it again in my meetings next week with European leaders. For years, I have been working tirelessly to forge an international alliance to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

Confronting a global economic crisis, the government acted swiftly to stabilize Israel's economy. We passed a two year budget in the government - and the Knesset will soon approve it.

And the third challenge, so exceedingly important, is the advancement of peace. I also spoke about this with President Obama, and I fully support the idea of a regional peace that he is leading.

I share the President's desire to bring about a new era of reconciliation in our region. To this end, I met with President Mubarak in Egypt, and King Abdullah in Jordan, to elicit the support of these leaders in expanding the circle of peace in our region.

I turn to all Arab leaders tonight and I say: "Let us meet. Let us speak of peace and let us make peace. I am ready to meet with you at any time. I am willing to go to Damascus, to Riyadh, to Beirut, to any place- including Jerusalem.

I call on the Arab countries to cooperate with the Palestinians and with us to advance an economic peace. An economic peace is not a substitute for a political peace, but an important element to achieving it. Together, we can undertake projects to overcome the scarcities of our region, like water desalination or to maximize its advantages, like developing solar energy, or laying gas and petroleum lines, and transportation links between Asia, Africa and Europe.

The economic success of the Gulf States has impressed us all and it has impressed me. I call on the talented entrepreneurs of the Arab world to come and invest here and to assist the Palestinians - and us - in spurring the economy.

Together, we can develop industrial areas that will generate thousands of jobs and create tourist sites that will attract millions of visitors eager to walk in the footsteps of history - in Nazareth and in Bethlehem, around the walls of Jericho and the walls of Jerusalem, on the banks of the Sea of Galilee and the baptismal site of the Jordan.

There is an enormous potential for archaeological tourism, if we can only learn to cooperate and to develop it.

I turn to you, our Palestinian neighbors, led by the Palestinian Authority, and I say: Let's begin

Israel is obligated by its international commitments and expects all parties to keep their commitments.

We want to live with you in peace, as good neighbors. We want our children and your children to never again experience war: that parents, brothers and sisters will never again know the agony of losing loved ones in battle; that our children will be able to dream of a better future and realize that dream; and that together we will invest our energies in plowshares and pruning hooks, not swords and spears.

I know the face of war. I have experienced battle. I lost close friends, I lost a brother. I have seen the pain of bereaved families. I do not want war. No one in Israel wants war.

If we join hands and work together for peace, there is no limit to the development and prosperity we can achieve for our two peoples - in the economy, agriculture, trade, tourism and education - most importantly, in providing our youth a better world in which to live, a life full of tranquility, creativity, opportunity and hope.

If the advantages of peace are so evident, we must ask ourselves why peace remains so remote, even as our hand remains outstretched to peace? Why has this conflict continued for more than sixty years?

In order to bring an end to the conflict, we must give an honest and forthright answer to the question: What is the root of the conflict?

In his speech to the first Zionist Conference in Basel, the founder of the Zionist movement, Theodore Herzl, said about the Jewish national home "This idea is so big that we must speak of it only in the simplest terms." Today, I will speak about the immense challenge of peace in the simplest words possible.

Even as we look toward the horizon, we must be firmly connected to reality, to the truth. And the simple truth is that the root of the conflict was, and remains, the refusal to recognize the right of the Jewish people to a state of their own, in their historic homeland.

In 1947, when the United Nations proposed the partition plan of a Jewish state and an Arab state, the entire Arab world rejected the resolution. The Jewish community, by contrast, welcomed it by dancing and rejoicing.

Those who think that the continued enmity toward Israel is a product of our presence in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, is confusing cause and consequence.

The attacks against us began in the 1920s, escalated into a comprehensive attack in 1948 with the declaration of Israel's independence, continued with the fedayeen attacks in the 1950s, and climaxed in 1967, on the eve of the six-day war, in an attempt to tighten a noose around the neck of the State of Israel.

All this occurred during the fifty years before a single Israeli soldier ever set foot in Judea and Samaria .

Fortunately, Egypt and Jordan left this circle of enmity. The signing of peace treaties have brought about an end to their claims against Israel, an end to the conflict. But to our regret, this is not the case with the Palestinians. The closer we get to an agreement with them, the further they retreat and raise demands that are inconsistent with a true desire to end the conflict.

Many good people have told us that withdrawal from territories is the key to peace with the Palestinians. Well, we withdrew. But the fact is that every withdrawal was met with massive waves of terror, by suicide bombers and thousands of missiles.

We tried to withdraw with an agreement and without an agreement. We tried a partial withdrawal and a full withdrawal. In 2000 and again last year, Israel proposed an almost total withdrawal in exchange for an end to the conflict, and twice our offers were rejected.

We evacuated every last inch of the Gaza strip, we uprooted tens of settlements and evicted thousands of Israelis from their homes, and in response, we received a hail of missiles on our cities, towns and children.

The claim that territorial withdrawals will bring peace with the Palestinians, or at least advance peace, has up till now not stood the test of reality.

In addition to this, Hamas in the south, like Hezbollah in the north, repeatedly proclaims their commitment to "liberate" the Israeli cities of Ashkelon, Beersheba, Acre and Haifa.

Territorial withdrawals have not lessened the hatred, and to our regret, Palestinian moderates are not yet ready to say the simple words: Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people, and it will stay that way.

Achieving peace will require courage and candor from both sides, and not only from the Israeli side.

The Palestinian leadership must arise and say: "Enough of this conflict. We recognize the right of the Jewish people to a state of their own in this land, and we are prepared to live beside you in true peace."

I am yearning for that moment, for when Palestinian leaders say those words to our people and to their people, then a path will be opened to resolving all the problems between our peoples, no matter how complex they may be.

Therefore, a fundamental prerequisite for ending the conflict is a public, binding and unequivocal Palestinian recognition of Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people.

To vest this declaration with practical meaning, there must also be a clear understanding that the Palestinian refugee problem will be resolved outside Israel's borders. For it is clear that any demand for resettling Palestinian refugees within Israel undermines Israel's continued existence as the state of the Jewish people.

The Palestinian refugee problem must be solved, and it can be solved, as we ourselves proved in a similar situation. Tiny Israel successfully absorbed tens of thousands of Jewish refugees who left their homes and belongings in Arab countries.

Therefore, justice and logic demand that the Palestinian refugee problem be solved outside Israel's borders. On this point, there is a broad national consensus. I believe that with goodwill and international investment, this humanitarian problem can be permanently resolved.

So far I have spoken about the need for Palestinians to recognize our rights. In am moment, I will speak openly about our need to recognize their rights.

But let me first say that the connection between the Jewish people and the Land of Israel has lasted for more than 3500 years. Judea and Samaria, the places where Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, David and Solomon, and Isaiah and Jeremiah lived, are not alien to us. This is the land of our forefathers.

The right of the Jewish people to a state in the land of Israel does not derive from the catastrophes that have plagued our people. True, for 2000 years the Jewish people suffered expulsions, pogroms, blood libels, and massacres which culminated in a Holocaust - a suffering which has no parallel in human history.

There are those who say that if the Holocaust had not occurred, the state of Israel would never have been established. But I say that if the state of Israel would have been established earlier, the Holocaust would not have occurred.

This tragic history of powerlessness explains why the Jewish people need a sovereign power of self-defense.

But our right to build our sovereign state here, in the land of Israel, arises from one simple fact: this is the homeland of the Jewish people, this is where our identity was forged.

As Israel's first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion proclaimed in Israel's Declaration of Independence: "The Jewish people arose in the land of Israel and it was here that its spiritual, religious and political character was shaped. Here they attained their sovereignty, and here they bequeathed to the world their national and cultural treasures, and the most eternal of books."

But we must also tell the truth in its entirety: within this homeland lives a large Palestinian community. We do not want to rule over them, we do not want to govern their lives, we do not want to impose either our flag or our culture on them.

In my vision of peace, in this small land of ours, two peoples live freely, side-by-side, in amity and mutual respect. Each will have its own flag, its own national anthem, its own government. Neither will threaten the security or survival of the other.

These two realities - our connection to the land of Israel, and the Palestinian population living within it - have created deep divisions in Israeli society. But the truth is that we have much more that unites us than divides us.

I have come tonight to give expression to that unity, and to the principles of peace and security on which there is broad agreement within Israeli society. These are the principles that guide our policy.

This policy must take into account the international situation that has recently developed. We must recognize this reality and at the same time stand firmly on those principles essential for Israel.

I have already stressed the first principle - recognition. Palestinians must clearly and unambiguously recognize Israel as the state of the Jewish people. The second principle is: demilitarization. The territory under Palestinian control must be demilitarized with ironclad security provisions for Israel.

Without these two conditions, there is a real danger that an armed Palestinian state would emerge that would become another terrorist base against the Jewish state, such as the one in Gaza.

We don't want Kassam rockets on Petach Tikva, Grad rockets on Tel Aviv, or missiles on Ben-Gurion airport. We want peace.

In order to achieve peace, we must ensure that Palestinians will not be able to import missiles into their territory, to field an army, to close their airspace to us, or to make pacts with the likes of Hezbollah and Iran. On this point as well, there is wide consensus within Israel.

It is impossible to expect us to agree in advance to the principle of a Palestinian state without assurances that this state will be demilitarized.

On a matter so critical to the existence of Israel, we must first have our security needs addressed.

Therefore, today we ask our friends in the international community, led by the United States, for what is critical to the security of Israel: Clear commitments that in a future peace agreement, the territory controlled by the Palestinians will be demilitarized: namely, without an army, without control of its airspace, and with effective security measures to prevent weapons smuggling into the territory - real monitoring, and not what occurs in Gaza today. And obviously, the Palestinians will not be able to forge military pacts.

Without this, sooner or later, these territories will become another Hamastan. And that we cannot accept.

I told President Obama when I was in Washington that if we could agree on the substance, then the terminology would not pose a problem.

If we receive this guarantee regarding demilitarization and Israel's security needs, and if the Palestinians recognize Israel as the State of the Jewish people, then we will be ready in a future peace agreement to reach a solution where a demilitarized Palestinian state exists alongside the Jewish state.

Regarding the remaining important issues that will be discussed as part of the final settlement, my positions are known: Israel needs defensible borders, and Jerusalem must remain the united capital of Israel with continued religious freedom for all faiths.

The territorial question will be discussed as part of the final peace agreement. In the meantime, we have no intention of building new settlements or of expropriating additional land for existing settlements.

You said — Don’t worry, America has been in “death throes” numerous times. So have Jews.

—

I’m confident, in this instance, that the only thing that is going to get the Jews out of their death throes is going to be the coming of the Messiah of Israel, otherwise, they are just as sunk as we are.

That’s not an argument for the destruction of Israel, but — rather — for the soon coming of the Messiah... :-)

I appreciate your replies to Matthew Weaver. I suggest that he read “Exodus” by Leon Uris and also “The Haj” by Leon Uris for two excellent historical novels about Israel and their relationship with the Palestinians and the rest of the Arab world. There are many good books about Israel, but Matthew must certainly include the Bible.

Some quotes by a remarkable woman, Golda Meir, the 4th Prime Minister of Israel:

We will have peace when Arabs love their children more then they hate us.”

We have always said that in our war with the Arabs we had a secret weapon - no alternative.

The Egyptians could run to Egypt, the Syrians into Syria. The only place we could run was into the sea, and before we did that we might as well fight.

Not being beautiful was the true blessing. Not being beautiful forced me to develop my inner resources. The pretty girl has a handicap to overcome.

For more about Ms. Meir: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golda_Meir

Israel doesn’t need to buy weapons from America. They have our current blueprints and the technological know-how to build advanced weaponry.

Furthermore, there are other highly skilled and technically advanced nations in the world that would be happy to work out an arrangement with Israel. An arrangement such as inviting the IMI to open armament factories in their country to build weapons for Israel... and to sell.

Countries like India, Russia, China, Brazil. (though, China and Russia are risky with their disregard for ownership and property rights)

And you also make the fatal mistake of thinking that the US foreign aid given to Israel is their whole military budget. Or for that matter, a majority of their budget.

In reply to you and another writer, I do find Israel as a “Jewish state” undemocratic, oppressive, and by its very nature a bloody failure. Yes, I actually do question Israel’s ‘right to exist’ as a Jewish state. It’d be the same if we in the US allowed a religious group redefine the country as, for example, a Baptist state, then expected everybody to conform. It wouldn’t happen any more than Israel’s attempt to make a Jewish state upon land of mixed religions. It is bloody now, and will be worse as long as the current regime imposes itself upon Christian and Muslim—seizing lands, and worse. Yes, it is Christians being oppressed just as much as Muslim, even if not getting the same headlines. Israel practices apartheid and can only survive through ethnic cleansing (which many seem to support) or by changing (which isn’t very popular).

You said — Star Traveler reminds me of someone.....er I think it is Shep ‘cry-me-a-river’ Smith.

—

I’m sorry, but I can’t respond to Mr. Anonymous... LOL...

But, aside from that... those Muslim Demographics are pretty impressive, actually. And for me..., it just means that certain things that the Bible talks about is coming pretty quickly...

In reply to you and another writer, I do find Israel as a “Jewish state” undemocratic, oppressive, and by its very nature a bloody failure. Yes, I actually do question Israel’s ‘right to exist’ as a Jewish state. It’d be the same if we in the US allowed a religious group redefine the country as, for example, a Baptist state, then expected everybody to conform.

Aren't you a cute LIBERAL. Do you hold the Muslim nations to this or any standard? I doubt it.
But lets put aside your religious bias, for the moment. History and genetic test show that Jews remain essentially an ethnic group. Why are we not allowed a nation when others have one. Put aside the Jewish part for the second, why should B'nei Yisrael not have Eretz Yisrael, why would the Israelites not have Israel?
Or do you oppose all nation-states?

t’d be the same if we in the US allowed a religious group redefine the country as, for example, a Baptist state, then expected everybody to conform. It wouldn’t happen any more than Israel’s attempt to make a Jewish state upon land of mixed religions.
Please stop wasting our time and embarrassing yourself until you learn some facts about Israel.

It is bloody now, and will be worse as long as the current regime imposes itself upon Christian and Muslim—seizing lands, and worse.
What lant has it siezed since 1979? It has been giving up territory.

. Yes, it is Christians being oppressed just as much as Muslim, even if not getting the same headlines
Please do try to justify that.

. Israel practices apartheid and can only survive through ethnic cleansing (which many seem to support) or by changing (which isn’t very popular).
Isn't that what you want, the ethnic cleansing of Jews from Judea and Samaria?

I’ve traveled to Israel in the past and found it horrific. This is not some extension of America that so many would like people to believe. I’d offer a more apt description but it’d surely get me banned...
Did you go with a marxist group, a Muslim group, or with theological anti-Zionists? I too have been there and know that you are ignorant.

As Bibi says, let’s keep it in the simplest of terms.

The Palestinians and the Arabs want the Jews dead, and to confiscate their land.

The only peace they will offer is a hudna, a treacherous “peace” that is only a truce while they build up for their “final solution”.

Good for Bibi for saying the truth. And we need to tell our families and friends the truth as well, for Israel will need all the friends it can get with Hussein in the White House.

Iran cannot be allowed to have nuclear weapons. Achmydinnerjacket has once again declared he will wipe Isreal off the face of the earth. He,as with the Chia Pet in North Korea, have to be confronted and stopped. That will not be accomplished with negotiations—only with force.

I stand with Israel.

Well, yesterday Obama said that an attack on Israel by Iran won’t be considered an attack on the US, so I think he’s already answered the question. As for Obama getting Bibi out of office? He’s going to have enough on his plate trying to appease his Muslim masters, frankly...

The Israeli people support Bibi’s vision, they do NOT support Obama’s vision, so unless Obama is going to send over a bunch of ACORN voter registrants or something I don’t think that will work.. :)

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